Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday brushed aside criticism of his earlier remarks urging other countries not to interfere with his contentious visits to Yasukuni Shrine and said the trips are based on his "creed."
"I don't think it was wrong for me to have stated that other countries should not interfere with the way (we) pay tribute to our war dead," Koizumi told the House of Representatives Budget Committee.
The meeting was held after the end of more than a one-week boycott of the Diet by opposition parties.